Davidson County Property Assessor George L. Rooker Jr. accepted the internationally-recognized Distinguished
Assessment Jurisdiction Award at the 79th annual conference of the International Association of Assessing
Officers (IAAO) last week in Grand Rapids, MI.

The honor is the highest jurisdictional award conferred upon an assessment agency by the IAAO, and Assessor
Rooker emphasized he was “accepting on behalf of the entire staff, which has worked so diligently to make our
office one of the best in the world.”

The IAAO was established in 1934 as a nonprofit, research and educational association for individuals in the
assessment profession. The organization promotes innovation and excellence in property appraisal, the
assessment administration, and property tax policy, while serving over 7,000 members worldwide.

To win the Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award, the office must have contributed “to the assessment
profession through the institution of technical, procedural, or administrative programs generally recognized as a
component of a model assessment system and a contributing factor to equity in property taxation.”

Assessor Rooker said, “It is a great honor to receive this award after so much hard work. For many years, we have
focused on constant improvement of our process and the continuing education of our staff. Our two primary goals
are to perform accurate property appraisals to ensure all taxpayers are treated equitably, and to operate as
transparently as possible so that taxpayers understand the appraisal process and our value estimates.”

“We are pleased that our technology endeavors have been successful in improving the appraisal process, as well as
being widely utilized by property owners.”

Following this year’s state-mandated reappraisal of all taxable property, the office provided public access to
technology tools used to appraise property at market value. Property owners were able to compile their own
comparable sales reports to help determine whether they wished to challenge their values. The number of
informal reviews and formal appeals was cut to less than half that in the last countywide reappraisal in 2009.
Within weeks after Assessor Rooker began his second term in September 2012, the office became the first
jurisdiction in Tennessee and 20th in the world, to be accredited with the IAAO Certificate of Excellence in
Assessment Administration.

In 2011, the office was awarded the Excellence in Operations Award by the Tennessee Association of Assessing
Officers (TNAAO), and in 2009 received the IAAO Outstanding Public Information Program Award through its
efforts in community outreach during that year’s mass reappraisal.

Assessor Rooker personally was recognized by the TNAAO as Assessor of the Year in 2008, and
recently was honored as the 2013 Member of the Year by the Tennessee Chapter of the International
Association of Assessing Officers.